Month: June 2016

Dustin Johnson overcomes another potential ruling by the PGA officials and goes on to win the 116th US Open at Oakmont Country Club.

But it wasn’t without a little drama.

All week the three putts on the 72nd hole of the 115th US Open at Chambers Bay was the topic of conversation. Whether it was in a press conference at Oakmont, Golf channel shows, or anywhere there was talk about collapse in sports or Dustin Johnson and his chances to win this championship on Father’s Day.

You see it wasn’t just the missed but last year, it was also the 2010 PGA Championship when he was about to go into a playoff, but on the 18th hole his tee shot was way to the right and landed on some sand. When he assessed the situation in his mind it was just a waste bunker and so when he hit his shot to the green he grounded his club. Meaning before he hit the ball he touched the sand behind the ball, and because all the sand had been declared blunders and you could not ground your club, he was assessed a 1 stroke penalty which eliminated him from what he thought was a playoff.

Now on Sunday deemed a on the fifth green, before he was going to stroke his ball to the hole, Dustin Johnson took a couple of practice strokes by his ball. At that point he called in a PGA official he deemed his ball had moved. Which under the old rules of golf would be a penalty. Once the play has ground his club, when it is the wind or gravity the player would be assessed a penalty stroke. But with the rule change, now the players has to do something to cause the ball to move. All Dustin did was take a couple of practice strokes and the ball moved.

The USGA’s senior director of the rules of golf Jeff, Hall said, “After he put his club down, within a second the ball moved.” He went on to say, “You have to weigh all the evidence.” Hall felt, “more likely then not” that Johnson had cause the ball to move. But when he had called over the official on the 5th hole, the ruling was that Johnson has not caused the ball to move.

He played 6 more holes, but on the 12th hole was officially told by the USGA that his score was possibly on less than the scoreboard was showing. But they would not know until he was in the scoring tent and they together had a chance to review the video.

Wow! Another blow to Dustin Johnson in trying to win his first major championship!

So from that point all Johnson did was bomb massive drives straight down the middle of fairways. Then put a stamp on his victory with a birdie on the challenging 72nd hole of the 116th US Open. It was a putt to seal the deal and win his first major championship, but it won’t be the last for this long bombing athletic man.

Talk about overcoming difficulties, pressures, and a feeling of anxiety that could have him to collapse under the circumstances that were totally out of his control. The only thing this 33 years old man could do was turn up his game on the last five holes and win this championship and not worry about the ruling of the USGA in the scoring tent.

You see this man, everyone questioning if he could ever win at this level and then the again the USGA up in the air ruling, he answered all the questions and overcame all odds. Now Dustin Johnson has put all the talkers behind and proven he is an overcomer and stood proud holding the 116th US Open trophy.

What difficulties have you had to overcome in life to get where you want to go?

My day began with Derek, my son surprising me at the golf course. Derek was taking a little video of me warming up on the range and this guy walked up and said, “I believe the starter paired me with you today!” Wow! What a surprise. It was Eric, a friend of ours from Dallas who had come to play and celebrate my birthday.

After our round of golf and a little chipping contest, the plan was go home and grill some burgers and hangout with these friends from Dallas and my family. But on the way home I got a call from Derek telling me that I needed to stop at the grocery store and pick-up some baked beans for supper.

Then came the second surprise of the day.

When I got home I walked into a a house it was filled with 50 people saying, “Surprise, Happy Birthday!” I was greeted with a happy birthday sign, two big gold balloons (one was a “6” and the other was a “0”), and many other balloons. On the table a beautiful cake with a picture of me playing the 18th hole at Harbor Town at Hilton Head.

Yes, my wife, Rachel, had pulled off a huge surprise “60th Birthday Party” and I had absolutely no idea.

June 5, 2016, Now I am almost 60 years old.

Tonight I sit at my in my chair contemplating the big day. It is when I move from living five decades to beginning of my sixth decade of life. You guessed it, tomorrow I turn 60 years old.

So this night is about reflecting on my life. I can remember the many of those milestones along my journey to this number. Whether it was 20, 30, 40, or 50 years old I took time to sit and think about where I was at an where I wanted to go, do, and be in life at those ages. Well, I have to admit, tonight is a little different.

I have now lived 21,900 days. In sports terms I am just starting the fourth-quarter. I have played the first three quarters (three at 20 years) and now it is time to start the fourth-quarter. It is the time in the game of life when a person’s practice, conditioning, experience become the most apparent. You have prepared for this time. There has been hours and hours of learning and trying to master those things that are important in life.

Just like I had to mastering the art of dribbling, passing, and shooting to be effective on a basketball court. A person in life needs to understand the their passion and purpose and then align their priorities to reach their potential. When you know your “Why” you then can align you priorities to reach your potential and learn to be great at being you. In my case I have tried to learn to be great at just being Dan.

There were those intense times of conditioning when you left the court and your legs felt like rubber and could hardly take another step. But it was that conditioning which separates you from the competition in the fourth quarter.

It is through those times of walking into the gym to practice your skills, run drills or do “killers” to get you in playing condition, or stepping on to the court to play the game, that you gain the experience needed to play in the fourth quarter.

Because of your experience and the wisdom (grey hair to go with it) you now are ready for the pressure you will get from the opposition. This isn’t your first time to the rodeo. You have been here before you know what you need to do in the fourth quarter to win the game. It is time to say, “Give me the ball, coach!” Let’s “Finish well” in the fourth quarter of this game of life.

When writing this I was reminded of songwriter Lukas Graham in his song, “Once I was Six Years Old”. There are a few very powerful parts in those lyrics. The song starts out, “Once I was seven years old my momma told me, Go make yourself some friends or you’ll be lonely. Once I was seven years old. He goes on to say, “Once I was eleven years old…” then states some advise he got from dad. “Once I was twenty years old…I see my goals, I don’t believe in failure.” He progress on, “Once I was thirty years old…” talks about how his career, traveled, and still learning about life.

He goes on to say, “Soon I’ll be sixty years old..my daddy got “sixty-one” (Wow!)” Aill the sudden the tone of the song changes to thinking death and dying. “Soon I’ll be sixty years old…will I think the world is cold or will I have lots of children to keep me warm.” Then ends the song going back to the original theme, “Once I was seventy years old…my momma told me go make some friends or you’ll be lonely. Once I I was seven years old.”

June 6, 2016, So now I am 60 years old.

You see at this milestone I have started counting days and not years. Turning 60 you have a different outlook of the fourth quarter that is different than playing a game. When you play a game you get many fourth quarters. In life you just get one fourth quarter. All the conditioning of those challenges, failures, difficulties, and pain has prepared me for now. Many years ago there was a term that I used to motivate my leadership teams, “Carpe Diem”. It simply meant “Seize the Moment”. That is what I am going to do as I begin the fourth quarter.

I am glad that in this period I do have somethings figured out. I do understand my purpose. I have worked to alleging my priorities so that I can reach my potential. I too, have learned to balance my time and manage my activities with the priorities of my life. For the first three quarters I have worked hard to be the best I can be. So that in a world that isn’t about just about “me” I could learn to do be good at we. I learned years ago, their is no I in TEAM and I am a team player.

This is not the time so slow down it is time to reeve up the engine it is the most important part of the game it is the fourth quarter and it all about finishing well. That is exactly what I plan on doing!